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Romsey MP Sandra Gidley's expenses claims revealed

ROMSEY MP Sandra Gidley claimed only for her rent and utilities bills between 2008 and 2009.

As all MP's expenses were published online today Mrs Gidley faired well with her main expenditure the £1638 rent claimed through the second home allowance.

The Hampshire MP claimed around £50 a week for food and had average utility bills of £99 with the odd phone bill of around £12.

Speaking about the publication of her expenses, Mrs Gidley said: "I am entirely happy that my claims have been made not only within the rules, but also within the spirit of the rules."

Mrs Gidley seems to have escaped much of the shortfalls of some of her colleagues.

She added: "I hope that the continued publication of expenses will begin to re-build the trust between the people and their elected representatives.

"I hope too that the government will implement the reforms that Sir Thomas Legg recommended before the general election. This Parliament owes it to the next to clear up British politics once and for all."

What a dreadful piece of sloppy mis-reporting. Sandra Gidley's claim for her second home in 2008/9 was £1638 PER MONTH , not £1638 for the year. And this was not rent, but mortgage repayments. This was presumably on her family home, not her London flat - although addresses have been blanked-out, the council tax bill for her 2nd home (which we tax-payers also paid for her) was from Test Valley B C & showed a "2nd home" 10% rebate.
Sandra Gidley's total "additional costs" claim, at around £25,000 was amongst the highest in the House of Commons.

What a dreadful piece of sloppy mis-reporting. Sandra Gidley's claim for her second home in 2008/9 was £1638 PER MONTH , not £1638 for the year. And this was not rent, but mortgage repayments. This was presumably on her family home, not her London flat - although addresses have been blanked-out, the council tax bill for her 2nd home (which we tax-payers also paid for her) was from Test Valley B C & showed a "2nd home" 10% rebate.
Sandra Gidley's total "additional costs" claim, at around £25,000 was amongst the highest in the House of Commons.ChrisN

hulla baloo wrote:
Never thought I would say this, but in the light of other Mp's and expenses, well done Sandra.

Well said HB. It's time to put the witch hunt behind us now and move on. MP's have been badly underpaid for years and the abuse of expenses was just seen as a way of compensating for having to lead by example when it came to pay restraint. Helping themselves to huge amounts of wonga using expenses as a pretext was seen by MPs as a back door loophole to a fair wage though it also gives us all insight into how a professional politician's mind works (especially the lawyers). I would like MPs to be given a good wage - say £150kpa to cover pay for their researchers and secretaries, and (as I think Southy suggested) free apartments in Westminster for the use of MPs living more than 50 miles away). Add first class rail travel and then that's it. It may seem a lot but it is important that working class people with no silver spoons in their mouths and no outside income are able to function as MPs fully and equally with the barristers during their tenure in Westminster. If we pay any less only the rich will be able to consider standing. Ooops I'm almost sounding like a socialist here, I'd better go and lie down.

[quote][p][bold]hulla baloo[/bold] wrote:
Never thought I would say this, but in the light of other Mp's and expenses, well done Sandra.[/p][/quote]Well said HB. It's time to put the witch hunt behind us now and move on. MP's have been badly underpaid for years and the abuse of expenses was just seen as a way of compensating for having to lead by example when it came to pay restraint. Helping themselves to huge amounts of wonga using expenses as a pretext was seen by MPs as a back door loophole to a fair wage though it also gives us all insight into how a professional politician's mind works (especially the lawyers). I would like MPs to be given a good wage - say £150kpa to cover pay for their researchers and secretaries, and (as I think Southy suggested) free apartments in Westminster for the use of MPs living more than 50 miles away). Add first class rail travel and then that's it. It may seem a lot but it is important that working class people with no silver spoons in their mouths and no outside income are able to function as MPs fully and equally with the barristers during their tenure in Westminster. If we pay any less only the rich will be able to consider standing. Ooops I'm almost sounding like a socialist here, I'd better go and lie down.Andy Locks Heath

Hang on a mo! Before we get too carried away praising Mrs G let's not forget she has yet to tell us how much she took to have the lease changed and rent increased on one of her flats. She has yet to tell us why her office is used by the Romsey Lib Dems, apparently rent free. Then there's a bit of a question mark over who else has had use of her flat in past years. She has totally failed to publicly answer questions on these matters.

Hang on a mo! Before we get too carried away praising Mrs G let's not forget she has yet to tell us how much she took to have the lease changed and rent increased on one of her flats. She has yet to tell us why her office is used by the Romsey Lib Dems, apparently rent free. Then there's a bit of a question mark over who else has had use of her flat in past years. She has totally failed to publicly answer questions on these matters.Bartat